I am an avid Reader, Semi-Professional Photographer, & enjoy Cooking, Crafts, and spending time with my Horses. I read various genre’s (not a big fan of historical) and mostly enjoy a well told story . Lately I have been reading a lot of PNR/UF, Zombie/Apocalypse, Romantic Suspense, SFR..... I like the stories I read to have happy endings…… cliff-hanger endings drive me crazy

I just finished this and I’m somewhat at a loss for words…..I went into this book only knowing what the blurb said “Six Dangerous Outcasts, One Impossible Heist”, that and a pretty cool cover. At about 85% in, I almost wanted to just stop because if I did not finish it, it could not be over……but I did finish and now ARRRRGGGG, the second book is not out yet and 2016 seems so far away. I have been trying to think of a good description of this book and the one description that was prevalent in the reviews that totally fits is “Oceans 11 meets Game of Thrones". This is a pretty spectacular heist.

The story is told from 6 POV’s

~ A convict with a thirst for revenge - Matthias~A sharpshooter who can't walk away from a wager - Jesper~A runaway with a privileged past - Wylan~A spy known as the Wraith - Inej~A Heartrender using her magic to survive the slums - Nina~A thief with a gift for unlikely escapes - Kaz

While this many POV’s would normally drive me crazy, it totally worked for this story. Each POV has a different narrator. They were all excellent, and brought the characters to life. I can honestly say that the narration made the book even better. I loved all of the characters (sometimes it was a love/hate) but I have to say that Kaz and Inej are the two that really stood out to me.

This is a YA Fantasy, but I have to say it did not really have that YA feel to me, in fact if it was not for the brief mention of their actual ages periodically throughout the story I would not have thought of the characters as 16, 17, 18ish+. It is very dark and pretty brutal….there were a few parts that I had to fast forward through because I did not want to see what was happening (unfortunately I was not quick enough when the scene with the removal of the eye happened….shudder). The lives these six live, and what they have had to survive….there is nothing young about them. There is also a hint at romance, but it is a natural progression and unobtrusive so it fits well in the story without being the main point of the story

The world building was amazing, the pace of the story kept me at the edge of my seat. All the twists, turns, surprises and secrets…I want to describe and talk about so much that happened in this book but I don’t want to spoil it…so go out, get the audio and prepare to be WOWED!